Deceiving Ourselves About Self-Deception
Deceiving Ourselves About Self-Deception
Were we just the Darwinian adaptive survival/reproduction machines Von Hippel & Trivers invoke to explain us, the self-deception problem would not only be simpler but non-existent. Why would unconscious robots bother to misinform themselves so as to misinform others more effectively? But as we are indeed conscious rather than unconscious robots, the problem is explaining the causal role of consciousness itself, not just its supererogatory tendency to misinform itself so as to misinform (or perform) better.
deception, self-deception, consciousness, feeling, free will, volition, evolution, evolutionary psychology, robotics, functionalism, causation
Harnad, Stevan
442ee520-71a1-4283-8e01-106693487d8b
Harnad, Stevan
442ee520-71a1-4283-8e01-106693487d8b
Harnad, Stevan
(2010)
Deceiving Ourselves About Self-Deception.
Behavioral and Brain Sciences.
(In Press)
Abstract
Were we just the Darwinian adaptive survival/reproduction machines Von Hippel & Trivers invoke to explain us, the self-deception problem would not only be simpler but non-existent. Why would unconscious robots bother to misinform themselves so as to misinform others more effectively? But as we are indeed conscious rather than unconscious robots, the problem is explaining the causal role of consciousness itself, not just its supererogatory tendency to misinform itself so as to misinform (or perform) better.
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decepcom-harnad.pdf
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Accepted/In Press date: 2010
Additional Information:
Commentary On: Von Hippel & Trivers "The Evolution and Psychology of Self-Deception"] Behavioral and Brain Sciences (in press)
Keywords:
deception, self-deception, consciousness, feeling, free will, volition, evolution, evolutionary psychology, robotics, functionalism, causation
Organisations:
Web & Internet Science
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 271430
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/271430
ISSN: 0140-525X
PURE UUID: c6e18879-494f-4775-8b00-344bbda39ac4
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Date deposited: 20 Jul 2010 12:26
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 02:48
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Author:
Stevan Harnad
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